Middle East Watch

475 Article

• Our Second Biggest Mistake in the Middle East

  5 July 2007, by Alastair Crooke

  ‘The situation in Gaza is dangerous, and the danger is that Hamas will take over and turn Gaza into “Hamastan” – into a kingdom of thugs, murderers, terrorists, poverty and despair.’ This was the reaction of Ephraim Sneh, Israel’s deputy defence minister, to Hamas’s seizure of a number of key security institutions in Gaza in the days leading up to 14 June, when Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah, dismissed the unity government. But, despite what (…)

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• The Wages of Hubris and Vengeance

  4 June 2009, by Arno J. Mayer

  Israel is in the grip of a kind of collective schizophrenia. Not only its governors but the majority of its Jewish population have delusions of both grandeur and persecution, making for a distortion of reality and inconsistent behavior. Israeli Jews see and represent themselves as a chosen people and part of a superior Western civilization. They consider themselves more cerebral, reasonable, moral, and dynamic than Arabs and Muslims generally, and Palestinians in particular. At the same time (…)

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• Obama’s speech in Egypt aimed at healing a rift with the Muslim world

  4 June 2009,

  I am honoured to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over 1,000 years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of (…)

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• More land, less Arabs

  juin 2006, par Eric Hazan

  Ce texte est extrait du livre de Eric Hazan Notes sur l’occupation paru en 2006. Ces Notes ont été prises pendant les mois de mai et de juin 2006 en Cisjordanie, période considérée comme calme, où l’on ne tuait guère chaque semaine qu’une demi-douzaine de jeunes gens. La réalité, c’est qu’il n’y a jamais de situation calme en Palestine, il y a violence quotidienne que subit tout un peuple, parfois avec patience et ailleurs non.

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• Obama juge essentiel le gel des colonies israéliennes

  29 mai 2009, par Corine Lesnes

  A une allure soutenue, Barack Obama monte l’échafaudage de son plan de paix pour le Proche-Orient. Après avoir reçu le premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Netanyahou le 18 mai, il s’est entretenu, jeudi 28 mai, avec le président de l’autorité palestinienne, Mahmoud Abbas à la Maison Blanche. Contrairement à la première entrevue, qui avait fait le constat des désaccords, la rencontre palestinienne a paru sans nuages. "Le président leur a dit : vous êtes sur la bonne voie. Aux Israéliens, (…)

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• Armed Israeli police close theatre on first night of Palestinian festival

  24 May 2009, by Rory McCarthy

  Armed Israeli police last night tried to halt the opening night of a prominent Palestinian literary festival in Jerusalem when they ordered a Palestinian theatre to close.
  The week-long festival, supported by the British council and Unesco, has brought several high-profile international authors – among them Henning Mankell, Michael Palin and Ahdaf Soueif – on a speaking tour of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
  Shortly before the opening event was due to begin, a squad of around a dozen (…)

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• How Many Secret Prisons Does Israel Have?

  18 May 2009, by Jonathan Cook

  The United Nation’s watchdog on torture has criticised Israel for refusing to allow inspections at a secret prison, dubbed by critics as “Israel’s Guantanamo Bay”, and demanded to know if more such clandestine detention camps are operating.
  In a report published on Friday, the Committee Against Torture requested that Israel identify the location of the camp, officially referred to as “Facility 1391”, and allow access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
  Findings from Israeli (…)

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• A Quarrel on the Titanic

  21 May 2009, by Uri Avnery

  One of the happiest moments in my life occurred in a restaurant.
  It happened before the second intifada. I had invited Rachel to celebrate her birthday with dinner at a famous restaurant in Ramallah.
  We were sitting in the garden under strings of colorful lights, the air was fragrant with the perfume of flowers and the waiters were hurrying back and forth with laden trays. We ate Mussakhan, the Palestinian national dish (chicken with tahini baked on pita bread), and I drank arak. Our (…)

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• Birth of a settlement

  by Joseph Dana, Mairav Zonszein

  Hilltop 26 is the name of an illegal settlement outpost atop a tranquil, windswept hill just outside Kiryat Arba, in the southern West Bank. From its top, one can see the red roofs of the Jewish settlement to the south and, in the distance, the outskirts of the holy city of Hebron. Over the past two months, adolescent settlers from Kiryat Arba have built a structure atop Hilltop 26 that they use as a clubhouse for eating, studying and hanging out. Although Hilltop 26 was dismantled in 1999, (…)

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• Saving Israel From Itself

  16 May 2009, by John Mearsheimer

  The United States and Israel fundamentally disagree about the need to establish a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. President Obama is committed to a two-state solution, while Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is opposed and has been for many years. To avoid a direct confrontation with Washington, Netanyahu will probably change his rhetoric and talk favorably about two states. But that will not affect Israel’s actions. The never-ending peace process will go on, Israel will (…)

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